75 Remarkable African Americans

Scientists

Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806). Mathematician and astronomer. He constructed the first striking clock to be made in America.George Carruthers (1939– ). His telescope and image converter was used to identify molecular hydrogen in space.George Washington Carver (1864–1943). Agricultural chemist. He advocated innovative agricultural methods and developed applications for agricultural products.Charles Drew (1904–1950). Physician, surgeon, medical researcher.Percy Julian (1899–1975). Chemist, known for being a pioneer in the synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone and the birth control pill.Kenneth Clark (1917–1983. Psychologist.

InventorsThomas Jennings (1791–1856). The first known African American to hold a patent.Granville T. Woods (1856–1910). Known for contributions to the street car and the telephone.

Edward William Brooke III (1919– ). U.S. senator.Julian Bond (1940– ). Founder of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, first president of Southern Poverty Law Center, and former chairman of NAACP.Ralph Bunche (1903–1971). Diplomat and winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize.Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005). First African American woman elected to Congress.Marian Wright Edelman (1939– ). Activist for the rights of children. Matthew Gaines (1840–1900). Former slave, community leader, minister and Republican state senator. Helped establish free public education in Texas.Marcus Garvey (1887–1940). Black nationalist, encouraged African Americans to migrate back to Africa.Frances Harper (1825–1911). Abolitionist and poet.Jesse Jackson Sr. (1941– ). Civil rights activist and Baptist minister.James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938). Author, known for his leadership within NAACP.Barbara Jordan (1936–1996). Congresswoman, educator and constitutionalist.Alan Keyes (1950– ). Political activist, served as President Reagan’s assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs.Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968). Prominent leader of the civil rights movement.Barack Obama (1961– ). Current U.S. president.Rosa Parks (1913–2005). Civil rights activist, known for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in 1955 and sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.Colin Powell (1937– ). Statesman and retired four-star general of the U.S. Army. He also served as secretary of state under President George W. Bush.Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827–1901). First African American to serve in the U.S. Senate.Condoleezza Rice (1954– ). Foreign policy expert who served as national security adviser and then secretary of state under President George W. Bush.Carl Burton Stokes (1927–1996). Elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967, he was the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city.Sojourner Truth (1797–1883). Abolitionist and women’s rights activist.Harriet Tubman (1820–1913). Abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the Civil War.Malcolm X (1925–1965). Muslim religious leader and human rights activist.

Muhammad Ali (1942– ). Heavyweight champion boxer, philanthropist, and social activist.Anita DeFrantz (1952– ). Olympic rower and member of the International Olympic Committee.Michael Jordan (1963– ). Professional basketball player.Warren Moon (1956– ). Professional football player.Jesse Owens (1913–1980). Track and field star.Jackie Robinson (1919–1972). Civil rights leader and the first African-American Major League Baseball player.Venus and Serena Williams (1980– ) and (1981– ). Professional tennis players.Tiger Woods (1975– ). One of the most successful professional golfers of all time.